23 | ᴅᴀᴛᴇ

Sophia's POV

Well, isn't this just my luck, I thought.

I slowly and awkwardly turned around, still standing on the door mat in front of the house. "The, uh, door...it's stuck," I muttered sheepishly when I saw Grayson looking at me with a questioning expression.

He frowned and stepped out of his car, coming up to where I was. I went to the side a little, giving him space. He twisted the knob, we only heard rattling, but the door didn't budge.

We stood there for a few seconds, him thinking about what to do and me sweating because of our close proximity.

"When do your parents come back?" he asked me.

"My mom'll be here in..." I checked the time on my phone. "An hour, maybe more," I answered. Was I really going to have to wait here, sitting on the front porch, for an hour?

"What about your dad?" he requested. I shook my head, staring at the ground.

"He always comes home late after work," I said. He ran his hand through his dark, long hair, as if contemplating something. I was about to sit down on one of the steps, shrugging my bag off my back, but he took ahold of my wrist. It wasn't a harsh act, but gentle, yet his large hand was rough. I let out a soft gasp, barely audible.

"Come on," he said, letting go of my arm and going back down the stairs. I didn't move, what is he doing?

He didn't hear my footsteps behind him, so he motioned with his head for me to follow him. I prudently took his lead and we were now next to his car. "Get in," he demanded curtly.

"What?" I rubbed my arm, unaware that it was the exact same spot where he touched me.

"You can't sit here for an hour, come with me," came his reply, he had already unlocked the car and his door was open. When he noticed my disinclination, he tried to ease his tense muscles, making him look more approachable. "I won't kidnap you," he smiled, though it definitely wasn't an impressive one and it didn't reach his eyes.

I swallowed and nodded. He took the hint and got in. "But what about murdering me," I grumble sarcastically to myself, making sure he couldn't hear me.

He started the radio while I buckled myself in his car for the second time today. Whilst I was outside his car, Grayson's whole mood seemed to change from grumpy and unexpressive to a little bit more friendly and open, as in he talked more.

I forced myself to open my mouth. "Where are we going?" My voice was a tiny bit shaky, but at least I didn't stutter.

"You'll see," he said, looking beside him to see an unmeant pout on my lips. His eyes, now some more green in result of the sunlight, directed to them. My face burned up and I tucked in my bottom lip instead, humiliated that I did that in his presence. I probably appeared like a baby.

"Don't do that," he groaned, letting my face leave from his vision and to the road again. I bit harder on my lip, not getting to the bottom of what I did wrong. He witnessed the subtle motion from the corner of his eye, rotating his head back to me. If it was even possible, his eyes turned a shade darker.

"What?" It left so tenderly it came out like a whisper. I didn't get a reply and he tried to busy his eyes with something else, so I dropped my gaze onto his arms, following them to his long fingers. For some abnormal reason, the spectacle of his hands, his large, rough and vein-y hands on the steering wheel made me feel an unfamiliar sensation in my lower abdomen. His knuckles turning white as he grips the wheel tightly didn't help either. I have never felt this way, I didn't know what it meant, and to try and stop it from making me feel bothered, I pressed my thighs together.

This, Grayson detected punctually, it made me muse about how he hadn't gotten whiplash yet from the speed he turned his neck to stare at my legs. To add more to my confusion, Grayson almost seemed frustrated by what I did, again.

"Can-Can I turn on the radio to some music?" I sought after a way to make this little trip a bit more pleasurable and less problematic. The way he summarily pushed the radio-button showed me just how much he agreed with me.

The song 'Snap out of it' by the Arctic Monkeys played in the background, and after the few seconds of silence that passed between us, I somehow forgot who I was in the car with and started humming along, tapping my right foot on the beat.

"You listen to Arctic Monkeys?" Grayson asked me, and I recovered from my daydreaming, giving him a shy nod. He gave me the impression that he was astounded by that.

To keep the dialogue going, I elaborated my answer. "I started listening to their songs after my friend - Liv - told me about them," I said, reminiscing me and Liv in her bedroom a few months ago.

"The friend you were with at the party?" he questioned, seeming genuinely interested. I nodded.

After about seven more minutes of driving and small talk, Grayson slowed the velocity of his car down, parking somewhere at the side of the road. He cut the engine completely and unbuckled his seat belt, exiting the car.

Why did we stop here? I don't even know where 'here' is. We're literally in the middle of nowhere.

Nonetheless, I did what he did and followed suite. He discontinued when we reached the point where the forest began. "Is this where you wanted to take me?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound unmannerly.

"Yeah," he said, looking over his shoulder to me, his voice actually quite soft. "You'll see why when we get there." Oh, so we're not there yet?

He started the march and took the first step into the forest. "Are we allowed to park here?" I inquired nervously, seeing the car parked at the side of the road.

He hesitated to give an answer, which made me frown slightly. "I come here often. Plus, look around, there aren't any cars or people here. There never are." So he did come here a lot. I wonder why. I mean, it doesn't really look like a fun pick-nick or open space, more eerily quiet and enigmatic.

He didn't quite answer my question though, so it gave me the impression that it was, in fact, not allowed. I didn't say anything else, afraid of how he'd react, and jogged behind him, trying to catch up again.

"We're going hiking?" I wondered out loud. The smallest of a smile slipped onto his face.

"I guess you can say that, but it's not far." I didn't mind hiking through the woods, though I was probably going to trip over twigs a few times, so I glued my eyes to the ground littered with fallen leaves.

It's relatively beautiful here. A bit dark to see much - the trees kept most sunlight out - but from what I could see, there were little flowers scattered around the place, mainly white and purple ones. The blades of grass reached tall and stroked my legs. The temperature was just right, not too hot nor cold.

I put out my hand and let it touch the grass halms as I kept on promenading. I now understood why he always wanted to come here; it was beyond peaceful, like you were the last person on Earth. The flowers gave it a 'fairy' look and the sound of birds chirping occasionally made the list.

Ever so slightly, the sun would peer through the giant trees and caress our skin, making his eyes a bright green again, almost the colour of some leaves that hung from the branches.

"We're practically here, just a few more metres," Grayson said, his tone affectionate and silky. I remained in my place and was fairly puzzled, the view looked the exact same as when we started walking. What makes this different from back there? I met his eye-line and he had a delicate smile on his lips.

I didn't want to ruin his mood or hurt his feelings by telling him that I didn't specifically find the place extraordinary, but I just couldn't make out what he found so special about it. I mean yes, it was extremely alluring, however I wouldn't have driven all this way for this.

He let out a chuckle and I raised my brows at him, not sure what he found funny. "I didn't say this was it, I said we still have a few metres to discover," he told me. I narrowed my eyes and searched for a location that was non-identical but couldn't detect one.

He took a few more steps, then, on his left side, he pushed vines and moss that hung from trees out of his way. I didn't even notice you could go through there, it seemed fully closed-off. It made me think of that one scene from the movie 'Tangled' where Flynn hid in this secret passageway that grew over with plants and moss.

Grayson beckoned me over. He lifted the strings of leaves up for me so I could duck and go through the narrow path, him accompanying me after. At the end I stood upright again and gasped, clasping my hands before my mouth.

A knowing look on his face showed and he positioned him next to me. It was the most magnificent view I have ever seen in my entire life. It looked like an entire new world. A fantasy world.

We were on the end of a cliff, though there was enough space to dance around and lie down. It was open and you could imagine it like your own little, private space to have a pick-nick.

It looked down on the whole forest and you could witness the sun setting, it was near golden hour, but not yet. There was only one tree here, one with wide branches parting and I'm sure you could climb in it.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically. I didn't need to say anything to show him how enchanting I found this, he could already tell by my face. I wandered a little closer to the edge, feeling his presence adjacent behind me.

"Now I know why you come here so often," I said, my voice gentle and serene, however my mind was racing with thoughts and butterflies. Not just because of Grayson's chest as good as grazing against my back, but moreover our magical whereabouts.

I couldn't hold it in, and I don't even know why, but a breathy laugh escaped my lips. I had this euphoric and jubilant perception in my tummy. This was like a dream. "This feels like a dream," I voiced the thought. Have you ever had this feeling where you know you're awake but everything just seems so distant and phenomenal, because this is what I'm enduring right now.

He sat himself down, his back against a rock. I went over to there and sat opposite of him. It approached golden hour, that reminded me of the time. I pulled out my phone and left my mom a text, saying I was out with a friend. Not mentioning it was a boy, my father would flip.

"How did you even find this place," I asked, still amazed by everything.

He stared at my face for a while, though he wasn't looking at it, he was deep in thoughts, thinking over his answer. "I don't know..." His voice was far away. "I guess when I took off a few months ago, just wanting to run away from town for a while, I stumbled across this place. Ever since then, this became my private hideaway for if I desired to be alone."

His voice, there was a sad tone to it, as if he were alone and hiding. He finally blinked but didn't shift his gaze away from me. While we sat there, while the time passed by, we didn't say a word, composed in our own thoughts. Comforting each other with our silence. We both had an aching feeling in ourselves, some kind of pain, and I wanted to unearth his, help him. But I kept quiet, not seeking a way to ruin this moment. A moment I'll probably never have with him again.

That thought made me think even deeper. What were we? Friends? A gloomy look appeared on my face. Were we even friends?

The golden hour, it eventually came and hit our spot. His eyes that hid hundreds of unveiled secrets dazzled me, the green of spring fresh leaves.

"Grayson..." I mumbled softly, waiting for his response to see if he heard me. When a smooth humming sound came from his lips, indicating me he was listening, I forced myself to continue.

"I know you've probably heard this more than enough already and you don't want my pity..." I started, but it was enough for him to give his attention fully to me. His forehead resting in a slight frown and his orbs flowing with curiosity of what I was about to say.

"But I truly am sorry for your loss." It left my mouth hesitantly yet smoothly. "I saw you two together...she must have meant a lot to you."

When he finally understood what I was on about, he looked down at his lap, his brows knitted together again. But at the end of my sentence, he was gazing into the sun that was setting, the orange-yellow light hitting his face at the perfect angle. Okay, I seriously need to stop ogling him. Definitely at a time like this.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ★ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Grayson's POV

I decided that if I was going to spent the afternoon with her, I might as well be nice. Being rude to her will only hurt her, and that's certainly not what I was planning on doing.

I wasn't even sure why I was taking her to this place, my favorite place. No one else knew about it. I've never seen other people there and I truly hope it stays that way. She's most-likely to forget where it is anyway.

-

As I made the first few feet into the forest, I didn't know if I was going to regret bringing her here or not. There's a big chance that, yes, I was indeed going to regret my decision. But I had to think fast, I couldn't think of any other place. Well, it's too late now, I thought, getting out of the car.

She tripped a few times while we marched through the high-reaching trees, luckily she didn't fail to keep her balance.

We had short conversations and from time to time she made me smile. Either because she was struggling to keep up with my pace, she sometimes seemed so excited and bewildered by the forest, her eyes wide and mouth a little agape - I wanted to see her reaction when she saw the actual place I always came here for. And lastly because she was so utterly beautiful and ethical, though I did my best to put a mask on.

Her fingers slid through the flowers and tall grasses as we wandered through these woods that looked as if they belonged to a fairy tale.

When we were almost there, she scanned our surroundings, but didn't see the wall of vines that was actually just like a curtain. It kept unwanted creatures out of my dream place. To be honest, I found it by accident when I wanted to lean on it. Just like in the movie 'Tangled', I thought to myself.

Sophia would definitely be Rapunzel, she is a princess, but in this normal, human world. Even if not, I would never be Flynn, or any prince, in that case. I couldn't, even if I wanted to be.

After I hinted her to the right way, I stayed behind her while she explored the restricted tunnel we were in. As she withdrew from it, I heard her gasp and I could already imagine the look on her face.

I went to go beside her and tried to gather all the fine details of her perfectly shaped face. I swear, I think I have never seen a more fetching woman before.

"It's lovely here, isn't it?" I said more than questioned. The look on her face told me everything, she was just as astounded as me when I first saw this.

When she took a step closer to the edge, the overprotective side of me got out, though I tried not to intrude her personal space. I kept close to her, making sure she was safe and wouldn't fall.

Her laugh was irresistible. Everything about her was. I knew why she laughed, it felt like a true dream. That's exactly how I felt too.

We sat down, facing each other, the sun shining on the both of us. Her blue eyes...I couldn't look away. They were mesmerizing and unforgettable.

I didn't want to, but today I had to lie again, and the lie was directed to Sophia. When she asked me about how I found this place, I told her I ran away from town to escape reality... I didn't exactly lie, but I didn't quite tell the truth, either. I wasn't alone when I found this, I was with her. I guess that's part of why I thought about going here. This place was ours, mine and hers. But now that she's gone, it's just mine.

I wasn't 100% certain if I was ready to show Sophia this place yet. No one else knew about it, but she wouldn't have minded. She actually would have loved Sophia.

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A/N: Do any of you know or have an idea who she/her is? I'm wondering lol.

This was a looong chapter,please VOTE. It would mean a lot, thank you!